The Pros and Cons of Commercial Truck Tolls

Learn about all aspects of commercial truck tolls - from their benefits to their drawbacks - so you can make an informed decision about whether they're right for your business.

The Pros and Cons of Commercial Truck Tolls

Having to pay tolls out of the pocket of an owner-operator can have a negative impact, and with the increase in toll rates, owner-operators are opposing them. There are many reasons why fleets can be fined, such as drivers using the wrong toll lanes or not complying with the rules governing the use of tolls, or simply because they don't pay the toll on time. If you use paper tolls, it's easy to set aside your tickets and say to yourself, “I'll take care of it later and forget it,” or you have someone who must spend hours paying for them. However, if you don't pay on time, you can expect the toll authority to notify you of another late payment violation.

For those who commute every day, toll roads can be a daily nuisance and an expensive inconvenience. But for long-distance truckers, toll roads can significantly reduce profit margins, especially for inexperienced owners and operators who are not yet familiar with best practices for calculating and managing toll costs. The PrePass Plus transponder communicates with roof readers and assigns tolls to the correct carrier and truck. Trucking companies pay tolls with toll plates, cash, card, or other accepted payment method, depending on the toll service. With the current infrastructure plan created by President Trump, problems related to interstate tolls have become a regular conversation among truck drivers around the world.

The free PrePass whitepaper, titled “A Guide to Trucking Toll Costs in America,” explains how toll facilities work. To make life easier for drivers and make them more productive, equipping their trucks with transponders or toll passes on all trucks that pass through toll sites can significantly reduce violations. Truck tolls can range from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars, depending on the length of the toll road and the type of vehicle. According to the study, the Pennsylvania turnpike provides a brief case study on why the trucking industry is increasingly concerned about tolls. Constitution because it discriminates against trucking entities from other states or interstates and does not reflect a fair user rate for those who pay the toll. Tolled interstates could have a negative impact on trucking industries, as well as on businesses and customers who purchase these transportation products.

Jason Walker is the chief revenue officer of Bestpass, a leading company in payment and toll management solutions for commercial fleets and owner operators. The study showed that commercial vehicle tolls were the transportation industry's second highest metric per kilometer, behind driver pay. Go to the payment station or use an application such as the Tollsmart toll calculator for trucks to make automated payments through a smartphone or tablet (if the toll operator supports it).Instead of managing the toll account for each individual truck, software bundles all the information about the trucks and transponders into a single account and on a single invoice. Overall, commercial truck tolls can be beneficial in some ways but also have drawbacks that should be taken into consideration before making any decisions. It is important to weigh all options before deciding whether or not to use commercial truck tolls.

Nancy Romlinghoven
Nancy Romlinghoven

Extreme food nerd. Incurable beer ninja. Internetaholic. Devoted twitter nerd. Lifelong analyst.